There are many occasions in orthopedic surgery when a bone is angled improperly due to congenital deformity, trauma, failed surgeries, and uneven arthritic wear in joints. A surgical operation called an osteotomy is done to correct this misalignment. In an osteotomy the bone is cut and then realigned to correct the improper angle.
In an osteotomy procedure, the surgeon removes a wedge of bone near a damaged joint. The procedure shifts weight from an area where there is damaged cartilage to an area where there either more cartilage or healthier cartilage. In this manner, weight is spread more evenly across the joint cartilage.
Osteotomy is commonly performed on the knee or hip joint. Osteotomy may help correct knee deformities such as bowleg or knock-knee deformities. Osteotomy may also be used to correct damage due to arthritis. For example, osteotomy may be performed in patients too young for a total joint replacement.
It is desirable to provide a new device which both simplifies the re-angling operations and enables correction to be more precise.